Online tiple requinto tuner

Tiple requinto string notes

Frequencies are calculated with the reference A at 440 Hz. If your group tunes to a different reference, such as 442 Hz, adjust it with the − and + buttons next to “A = 440 Hz” and the tuner shifts every note.

Each course has three plain strings tuned to the same note: D4, G4, B4 and E4, the same pitches as the tiple's outer strings.

It's a reentrant tuning: the 2nd course (B4) sounds higher than the 1st (E4). That compact, bright range is what makes the requinto a melody instrument.

What is the tiple requinto?

It's a smaller, brighter-sounding version of the tiple, played with a pick, and it usually carries the melody. In some Andean regions it plays the melodic role that the bandola has in others, and it's one of the instruments of carranga from Boyacá, the music popularized by Jorge Velosa, alongside the tiple, the guitar and the guacharaca.

Colombian requinto and trio requinto

In bolero trios, a small six-string guitar tuned differently is also called a requinto. This tuner is for the Colombian tiple requinto, with 12 strings in four courses. If you have a six-string requinto, use the chromatic tuner with the notes your teacher gives you.

From tiple to requinto

Chord and scale shapes are the same on both instruments. What changes is the sound: without the low middle strings, the requinto loses body in the bass and gains clarity for picking melodies.

How to tune your tiple requinto with this tuner

1. Tap Enable microphone and accept the browser's permission request. The sound is analyzed on your device: it isn't recorded or sent anywhere.
2. Leave the tuner on Auto so it recognizes which string you're playing, or tap a note to lock it (tap it again to go back to Auto). Strings that sound exactly the same share a button; octave strings get their own.
3. Play a single open string with medium force and let it ring. Mute the other strings in the course with your hand so the microphone hears just one.
4. If the needle is to the left, the note is flat: tune up. If it's to the right, tune down. Anywhere between −5 and +5 cents counts as in tune.
5. Once a string stays in tune for a moment, its button gets a green check mark. Keep going until every string has one.
6. Use the speaker icon under each note to hear the reference and train your ear.
7. Go over every string again at the end: the tension of some strings shifts the others slightly.

Tips for tuning your tiple requinto

• Tune one string of each course first, then match the other two to it by ear until all three sound like one.
• The 2nd-course strings (B4) are the thinnest and highest: bring them up slowly.
• Pluck each string separately with the pick, using a light attack.
• Go back over every course at the end: the tension of twelve strings shifts the tuning of the others.

Common tuning problems

• The needle jumps between notes: play a single string, a little more softly, and wait for the sound to settle. The first instant of every note always sounds slightly sharp.
• It doesn't pick up the low strings: phone microphones struggle with low frequencies. Hold your phone closer to the instrument or play the harmonic at the middle of the string (12th fret): the tuner recognizes it as the same string and tells you it sounds an octave higher.
• The open strings are in tune, but what you play sounds off: check that no string is in the wrong octave and that your strings aren't old. If it still sounds wrong, ask your teacher or a luthier to check the instrument's intonation.
• It goes out of tune right away: new strings keep stretching for several days, and changes in temperature and humidity shift the tuning. Tune in the same place where you're going to play.
• The browser doesn't ask for the microphone: check the site permissions in your browser settings and make sure no other app is using the microphone.

Frequently asked questions